The New Zealand Brownie Story

Everyone worked in the Johnson family. Dad drove a taxi. Mum was a nurse at the hospital. The twins Carla and Ripeka helped in the house after school. Dad helped too, when he wasn't taxi driving.

One day, Dad was at the stove, cooking pancakes. "Who does this house belong to?" he said.

"You!" said Ripeka.

"Wrong!" said Dad. "It belongs to our family. All of us. We all look after it and we all look after each other."

"Who's the Boss?" asked Carla.

"No bosses," said Mum, who was doing the dishes. "There are only helpers in this place. We help each other to do the work and when that's finished, we have fun together. Right?"

"Right!" said the twins.

"But work can be fun too," said Dad, "especially when you're as good at it as I am. Watch this!" He tossed the pancake in the air. It flipped over and landed on the stove. "I just did that to make you laugh," said Dad, winking at Mum.

Carla and Ripeka didn't think all work was fun. They got bored with doing the dishes and tidying their room, but they tried to make those jobs interesting by doing them as best they could. Some work really was fun. They liked looking after the dog and cat, going to the shops, helping to clean the car, cooking buns and gingerbread men, and gathering pine cones for the fire. It was also fun helping other people. They carried shopping for old Mrs. O'Regan. They watered Mr. Huirama's garden while he was on holiday.

Carla said to Ripeka, "I've been thinking. Dad's always helping people in his taxi. Mum helps at the hospital. Why can't we be helpers at school as well as home?"

Ripeka wasn't sure about that. "There are nearly 300 kids at our school," she said. "You reckon we should help everyone? Come off it."

Mum was listening. "Just help where you can, when you can. You never know. It might be catching. The other children might want to be helpers too. But right now, I've got a special job for you. Grandma's coming tomorrow. You can put some flowers and pictures in her room to welcome her."

"Hooray!" shouted Ripeka. "I'll do the flowers!"

"No! I'll do them!" said Carla.

"I'm sure Grandma would like two lots of flowers," said Mum.

When Grandma saw her room, she kept saying. "Oh! Oh! Look at this, will you? Look at it!" Then she said to the twins, "I do believe the little folk have been here in the night."

"What little folk?" asked Carla.

Grandma sat down on the bed and put her arms round Carla and Ripeka. "When I was a girl in England, my mother told me a story about some magic little folk called Brownies. They used to come into the house at night, and do all the work. While the family slept, a Brownie would do all the cooking and cleaning and gardening and then it would run away before the family woke up."

"We don't have any Brownies here," said Carla.

Mum interrupted. "That's not so. There are Brownies in this house, all right. I've seen them."

"You're just teasing," said Ripeka.

"No, I'm not," replied Mum. "I've watched them many times. In fact, I've got pictures of them. Wait a minute and I'll show you."

Mum went to her bedroom and came back with two small pink frames. She gave one to Carla and one to Ripeka. "Look!" she said.

"These aren't pictures!" said Ripeka. "They're mirrors!"

"That's right," said Mum.

"You mean we're the Brownies?" asked Carla.

"The best in the world," said Mum.

"Hey!" yelled Dad from the hallway. "what about a big hairy Brownie who drives a taxi? Doesn't he count?"

Grandma laughed. "Sorry," she said. "Helpers come in all shapes and sizes, but only little people can be Brownies."